The present invention relates generally to electrical phase compensators and more specifically to an electrical signal phase compensator that is less complicated and more effective than that of the prior art.
A problem with the transmission of electrical signals is the medium through which they are transmitted. A higher frequency signal will travel faster down a conductor than a lower frequency signal. For example, this phenomenon reduces the quality of audio signals by inducing a phase difference between the high and low frequency signals as they travel on the conductor. This problem can be helped by having a conductor which has varying diameters of wire. The higher frequencies flow down the smaller wires and the lower frequencies flow down the larger diameter wires, due to skin effect.
There have been at least three attempts in the prior art to correct the phase difference between high and low frequencies in a transmission medium. The first is Brisson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,538,023; an audio cable comprises an inner conductor and an outer conductor which consists of numerous wires which are twisted around the inner conductor to compensate for the phase difference between high and low frequencies. The second is Brisson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,052; a discrete capacitor is used in conjunction with a transmission line to compensate for the phase difference between high and low frequencies. The second is Sakata, U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,022. An active circuit is used to compensate for the phase difference between high and low frequencies.
The prior art has also provided compensation systems based on use of helically wound low frequency conductors and high frequency conductors connected in parallel. U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,189 which issued Jul. 31, 1990 to Palmer and U.S. Pat. No. 4,777,324 which issued Oct. 11, 1988 to Lee both disclose helically wound twisted conductors and closely spaced conductors for improving the output signal with respect to random noise with interaction of the magnetic fields. The system requires the twisted wires in close spaced relation to produce an improved output. Systems which require the helical wound or twisted conductors do not create a system in which the length of the hf conductor will be greater than the lf conductor by even a factor of five and often much less.
None of the above prior art patents disclose an electrical signal phase compensator which overcompensates or anticipates the delays of high and midrange frequencies which will occur when the signal passes through subsequent electrical circuits.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for an electrical signal phase compensator which does not use an active circuit, a capacitor, or an inductor to correct phase differences between high and low frequencies. There is also a further need for an electrical signal phase compensator which overcompensates or anticipates the delays of high and midrange frequencies which have been encountered and also for those which will be encountered in subsequent circuitry. The high and midrange frequencies are overcompensated such that all frequencies are in-phase at the output of the subsequent circuitry.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a electrical signal phase compensator which does not use an active circuit, a capacitor, or an inductor to correct phase differences between high and low frequencies. There is also a further need for an electrical signal phase compensator which overcompensates or anticipates for delays of high and midrange frequency signals which have been encountered and also for those which will be encountered in subsequent circuitry.
According to the present invention, an electrical signal phase compensator includes at least two conductors and a ground wire. In a two conductor system, the length of the first conductor is substantially longer than the second conductor. The length of the ground wire is not important. The first conductor and the second conductor are connected in parallel. Each conductor and ground wire is insulated.
In a three conductor system, the length of the second conductor is substantially longer than the third conductor. The first conductor is substantially longer than the second conductor. The length of the ground wire is not important. The first conductor, the second conductor, and the third conductor are connected in parallel. It is also possible for the electrical signal phase compensator to have four or more wires. Each diameter of wire is chosen to accommodate a particular frequency range. Each conductor and ground wire is insulated.
In a second preferred embodiment, the electrical signal phase compensator includes a neutral line which is disposed adjacent to the corresponding signal line. Each respective neutral line is connected in parallel. Each end of the plurality of neutral lines is terminated in various ways with potentiometers or resistors. Each potentiometer or resistor is connected to ground. Adjustment of the potentiometer with an audio signal will cause a shift of the amplitude of the audio signal to be increased or decreased.
The electrical signal phase compensator is preferably implemented by using insulated wire that is wrapped around a spool or printed as traces on a circuit board. The conductors may also be wrapped around each other. The different conductors are preferably wrapped on a spool in a radial fashion or adjacent to each other. Each conductor is wound as a coil unit, with the coil unit stacked on each or adjacent each other, and may even be separate coil units. The different conductors may be replicated on a circuit board by nesting different length traces within each other or using multiple layers. The conductors are wrapped in such a way that no inductance is generated in the conductor. The conductors are also spaced to minimize different electromagnetic interaction between the conductors.
The present inventor has found that the several conductors for the different frequencies are not necessarily located to interact directly, and are preferably separate for purposes of construction and application. In the present invention, the several different frequency conductors are separately mounted, either adjacent each other or as completely separate elements formed of wire of an appropriate length, wherein the high frequency length is significantly longer and preferably very substantially longer than the low and/or midfrequency conductor, as presently discussed. This concept permits the complete separate assembly of the different conductors with the proper parallel connection of each subassembly. The present invention is particularly adapted to wrapping each conductor as a separate coil unit on one or more supports such as well known spools. The coil units can be completely separate or can be wound as separate layers on a common spool. The final can be conventionally contained within an outer housing and potted to produce a final compensator for connection into the load system.
The inventor has discovered that the high frequency component of the complex multifrequency signals is a dominant factor in the final output signal and particularly in producing an optimum waveshape based on the original signal. Thus, the high frequency signal skew or offset relative to the initially created signal is very substantial at the input to and the output of the load device or system.
In accordance with a preferred and unique application of the present invention, the high frequency line of the transmission cable is constructed to produce a corresponding offset and cancellation of the skew in the hf component in the output signal at the output device. This effect on the output signal is most practically established by the high frequency hf line being greater in length than the low frequency line by a substantial factor of at least ten (10) and preferably in excess of fifteen (15) or substantially greater. This result is most readily produced with a line having a thin insulation and relatively small diameter wire. The inventor has found that as in the other applications, the diameter of the hf line also contributes to skew modification, and in various applications a combination of length and diameter may be found to produce a most satisfactory result. However, the inventor has found that generally, the line length is most significant.
In a high fidelity sound system, the inventor has constructed a skew compensator having a three line unit with a hf line having a length greater than the lf line by a factor of 20 and by a factor of over 200. In both units the mf line had a factor of 4 and 5 relative to the lf line. In the preferred construction, the high frequency wire is at least a 30 or higher gauge wire. The diameter of the lines were also different, and generally increased with the hf line having a gauge of about 1xc2xd to 2 times the low frequency (lf) line. The quality of the output sound established by both were outstanding relative to the prior systems with smaller difference factors in the lines. The unit having difference factor or the order of 250 produced an audio output quality factor which was considered to be substantially greater than the unit with the difference factor on the order of 20.
The above example of the very substantial hf line lengths are relevant for the teaching of a separate coil or coil units for each frequency band in the construction of the compensator. This is particularly important in making a most effective compensator at a reasonable cost.
The present invention is applicable to various applications which include a broadband input signal including audio signals, visual signals, power signals and others where the broadband signal is transmitted over any significant distance resulting in skewing of the higher frequency component relative to the lower and medium frequency component. The compensator is connected adjacent the receiving element and serves to reset the skewed higher frequency signal component into the original generated alignment. The use of a rather higher compensation of the high frequency component which creates an over compensation of the signal has created an exceptional recreation of the original signal in the receiver by compensating for internal difference in the signal transmission.
The inventor has discovered that although the varying diameter of the wire does contribute to the final improvement in the received signal, it appears that a difference in the diameter of the wire alone will not create a very large change when compared to the change based on significant differing length of the conductor.
Although generally formed with wire of distinct differing lengths and diameters, the diameter could of course continuously vary in an appropriate manner in such a construction. Further, the construction may include a plurality of conductors for each frequency band.
In summary, the inventor has discovered that the high frequency signal line should be wound to preferably create a significant over compensation in the high frequency component of the transmitted signal and thereby insure a proper and improved orientation at the sound, video or power signal receiver.
One advantage of the electrical signal phase compensator is synchronization of electromagnetic fields which result from the propagation of signals down a conductor. The higher frequency signals will travel down the smaller diameter conductor because it provides a decreased impedance path. The higher frequency signals will also arrive at the end of their conductor faster than a lower frequency signal. The increased conductor lengths for higher frequency signals compensate for the faster propagation speed of the higher frequency signals; thus facilitating the synchronization of the electromagnetic fields and preventing any deleterious effect that occurs from electromagnetic fields which are not synchronized. Conductor lengths and diameters are optimized according to the frequencies, currents, and effects desired. The electrical signal phase compensator will work with the same size wires, but performance will be decreased.
The electrical signal phase compensator will work for all frequencies, currents, and voltages. Currents from low frequency DC pluses for controlling motors to higher frequencies for audio and video applications and microprocessors which will benefit from this invention. The electrical signal phase compensator will work anywhere the design of electromagnetic properties are critical to the operation, such as microprocessors, disk drives, or tape devices. Microprocessors with limited real estate, will benefit from improved signal flow. Hard disk drive and tape devices have shown improvement in performance utilizing the present invention.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which improves the sonic qualities of audio and other broadband signals by eliminating the phase differences between different frequencies.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which improves the clarity of phone conversations by eliminating the phase differences between different frequencies.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which allows the transmission of higher speed modem communications.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which improves the performance of motor controllers.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which overcompensates high and midrange frequencies such that all frequencies will be in-phase at the output of the subsequent circuitry.
Finally it is another object of the present invention to provide an electrical signal phase compensator which improves the sharpness of a video display.
These and additional objects, advantages, features and benefits of the present invention will become apparent from the following specification.